Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia #BookReview @HMHbooks

A handsome stranger. A dead billionaire. A citywide treasure hunt. Tuesday Mooney’s life is about to change…forevermore.

Tuesday Mooney is a loner. She keeps to herself, begrudgingly socializes, and spends much of her time watching old Twin Peaks and X-Files DVDs. But when Vincent Pryce, Boston’s most eccentric billionaire, dies—leaving behind an epic treasure hunt through the city, with clues inspired by his hero, Edgar Allan Poe—Tuesday’s adventure finally begins.

Puzzle-loving Tuesday searches for clue after clue, joined by a ragtag crew: a wisecracking friend, an adoring teen neighbor, and a handsome, cagey young heir. The hunt tests their mettle, and with other teams from around the city also vying for the promised prize—a share of Pryce’s immense wealth—they must move quickly. Pryce’s clues can’t be cracked with sharp wit alone; the searchers must summon the courage to face painful ghosts from their pasts (some more vivid than others) and discover their most guarded desires and dreams.

 

When I clocked the novel Tuesday Mooney talks to Ghosts and its blurb, I was sold right away. It was the treasure hunt with clues sprinkled all over the city mentioned in the blurb that made me very excited to read this novel right away. I was beyond thrilled when I was invited to read the book then not long afterwards. With perfect timing because I wanted to read something fun and light this week. This seemed like a YA novel to me at first, at least that’s the impression I had based on the cover and blurb but Tuesday is 30 years old, she has a job as a researcher and she has real grown up problems, like the grief she feels for the people she misses, Abby and her parents, so much so that she’s trying to keep everyone at arm’s length.

The ghostly part of the story worried me a little bit but I hoped all the sleuthing around would make up for it. Surprisingly, the voice of Abby Hobbes, Tuesday’s best friend who went missing 16 years earlier when they were both still teenagers, and whose witty comments accompany Tuesday sometimes, didn’t bother me at all. I really loved how the author kept it all very much in the air whether she was a ghost or conjured up by Tuesday and I felt comfortable with both explanations so I wasn’t disappointed at all in the end. It also helped that Tuesday was realistic enough to question her own sanity at times but listened to and embraced Abby’s thoughts at the same time. That little mystery was brilliantly done as were the multiple other mysteries and surprising twists sprinkled throughout the novel.

It wasn’t all play and games though, with two missing people in the novel for years, a year-long feud between families, and the death of parents, it is more than just good fun. Grief and coping with loss are just a few of the important themes in this novel and I very much enjoyed the message of being yourself in the end as well.

I enjoyed the cast of characters, Tuesday, her best gay friend Dex, sixteen-year old Dorry and Nathaniel who seeks her help to win the game, and the complexitiy they all bring to the story with their own individual struggles. I did find Archie a bit confusing a name at some times because with Arches as a surname I often had to read it twice to check who we were talking about, him or another member of his family. I found the quirky characters a little over the top at times too, but they always remained interesting.

The ending was full of adventure and action, the discovery of Vincent Pryce’s richness and other secrets revealed was grand, sensational and majestic and very very movie worthy.

So, this novel is drama, mystery, romance (just a pinch) and a thriller all balled into one book. It works though, I liked every genre represented and they all blended perfectly together. This book was perfect escapism. If you enjoyed reading A Semi-Definitive List of Possible Nightmares, you’ll enjoy this one too!

I received a free copy of this novel from the publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing. This is still my honest opinion.

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